Art Blogging: Edgar Brandt

Edgar Brandt (1880-1960) was a French Art Deco metalworker. He was educated at the crafting school Ecole Nationale Professionelle de Vierzon and served in the army before opening his own shop in 1901. He won a Salon prize in 1908 and was popular throughout the 1920s and 30s. Additionally, he was an accomplished weapons designer, particularly in the domain of artillery.


Deer (bronze, 1920). What Erte did in bronze for people, Brandt did for the animal kingdom.




The Temptation (bronze, 1920s). Brandt recalls the fall from Edenic paradise with this serpent coiled around a luminescent fruit. The light glistens off the snake's scales, giving it a lustrous quality.

Like the Art Deco movement, and its preceding Arts and Crafts movement, most of Brandt's bronework was designed to be functional in the home; a sculpture is not simply a slab of metal taking up space, but a useful floor lamp.










Persian Grill (iron, 1923). Brandt was most famous for his ability to turn metal into feathery gossamer, as seen in the delicate work on this furnace screen.